Smart materials - Today and Tomorrow
Jonathan Gill
MBA 624
Have you ever thought of your clothing as a second skin?
Your skin is an organ, and it performs functions such as perspiring to keep you cool, scabs over to help cuts heal, and grows hair to keep your sensitive parts warm.
Today, fabrics that aid your body in these, and many other functions, are being introduced. And research is being conducted on materials and applications that will make your clothing more than just a skin covering.
According to the Personal Electronics Group
“Smart clothing is a combination of electronics and clothing textiles. New fibre
and textile materials and miniaturized electronic components make it possible to
create truly usable smart clothes. These intelligent clothes are worn like
ordinary clothing providing help in various situations according to the designed
application.”
http://www.ele.tut.fi/research/personalelectronics/projects/smart_clothing.htm
What is the technology behind smart fabrics?
A micrograph of silk organza. You can see the copper foil that is wrapped around the horizontal threads.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/computer-clothing.htm
Smart Fabrics are not simply a thing of tomorrow – they are here today. Let’s take a look at projections from Elon University and the Pew Internet Project for Intelligent Fabrics and Materials in 2012. As we will see, we already have created many of the items they predicted for 2012.
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/150/2010.xhtml#Fabrics
Who is focusing on smart fabrics?
There are conferences that meet to discuss
smart fabrics. And where there are conferences on new technology, there are
venture capitalists reviewing their work.
Body Sensor Networks 2006
International Workshop on Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks at MIT
Smart Fabrics 2005
Barcelona, Spain
http://www.intertechusa.com/conferences/conferenceDetail.aspx?displayDetail=overview&WCID=94
There are projects devoted to finding new applications of smart clothing.
Personal Electronics Group
The Personal Electronics Group spent time developing a smart snowmobile suit.
http://www.ele.tut.fi/research/personalelectronics/projects/smart_clothing_project.htm
SMART CLOTHES AND WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY Research Group at the University of Wales.
http://artschool.newport.ac.uk/smartclothes/
There is certainly much more to smart fabrics than research and conferences.
Many applications are already in existence. Here’s a primer on
some initial uses.
http://www.abc.net.au/catapult/video/default.htm?clip=smartfabrics
Below are examples of other current applications.
Smart Underwear
Underwear that measures the wearer's temperature and controls
the temperature of the room.
“A very simple (quite trivial, but nevertheless illustrative) example of a
cyborgian device is the smart underwear that allows the wearer to control the
temperature in a room.” - Steve Mann, MIT Media Lab
http://wearcam.org/smart_clothing/node4.html#SECTION00022000000000000000
BlackCoat Made for iPod
From Youtube, here’s a little more on incorporating your music into your
clothing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYP42opdCWk&search=smart%20fabrics
First Smart Wedding Garments
“US and Canadian skiers get smart armour.”
Olympic athletes find better protection from falls.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/dn8721.html
Olympic athletes aren't the only skiers benefiting from smart fabrics.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/154626_skiwear.html
Perhaps the greatest potential for commercialization of smart fabrics is in the health care industry.
Smart Dressing
Researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK, have come up with a
dressing that can tell doctors whether a bandage needs to be changed or can be
left in place.
The dressing material has contact points on the outer surface that lead to a
network of electrodes buried inside. When a hand-held reader is placed over the
dressing it links outer contacts and sends a low voltage via different paths
through the dressing.
A reader then displays a 3D map of the dressing's conductivity. If the map shows uniformly good conduction, it is good for another day. But if there are too many poor conduction paths, caused by dry patches, the dressing needs changing.
http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/IPDL-CIMAGES/images3.jsp?WEEK=43/2005&DOC=05/099644&TYPE=A2&TIME=1131725579
As we look to the future of smart fabrics, there are already new
innovations that are close to commercial introduction. One of them comes form
nature.
“Pinecone-Inspired "Smart" Clothes Expand, Contract”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1013_041013_smart_clothing.html
The world of fashion has taken notice, and understand that as the technology gets smaller, smart clothing will become as prevalent as wristwatches.
http://www.horizonzero.ca/textsite/wear.php?is=16&file=6&tlang=0
The health care applications will be enormous, and this industry segment will see the greatest growth of commercial development.
Future of your wardrobe.
http://smart-attire.cs.uiuc.edu/intro.html
The WEALTHY project is one group that is using clothing to monitor the human body.
Wealthy - Wearable Health Care System
A new concept in healthcare is emerging, aimed at fulfilling the need to
continuously monitor the patient's vital signs through a ground-breaking woven
sensing interface to be worn without any discomfort for the user. In our
project, smart material in fiber and yarn form endowed with a wide range of
electrophysical properties (conducting, piezoresistive, etc) will be integrated
and used as basic elements. The simultaneous recording of vital signs allows
parameters' extrapolation and inter-signal elaboration. This contributes to
evaluate the patient's synoptic data table and to trigger alarm messages.
WEALTHY system will be implemented by integrating computing techniques, smart
sensors, portable devices and telecommunications, together with local
intelligence and a decision support system. The proposed system will assist
patients during rehabilitation or subjects working in extreme stressful
environment conditions, ensure continuous intelligent monitoring.
Here is an analysis of the work WEALTHY is doing.
http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/Tpl/article/BrowsingType/Long%20Feature/ID/74748
Another consideration comes in the form of occupational safety.
http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/materials_science/report-42165.html
A new virtual-reality body suit is planned for pilots. It simulates the cockpit experience with no danger to passengers.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2176
Future spacesuits will heal themselves.
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9624.html
In the fitness world, we will see sensors in fabrics that will measure technique and performance, for example the speed at which a rower moves and how they coordinate their leg and body movements. If the rower deviates from the optimum speed or rhythm, pads worn at the ankle and waist start vibrating at the correct stroke intervals to help the rower recapture the winning action.
http://www.newscientisttech.com/channel/tech/mg18825196.000.html
The smart fabrics industry is being noticed by major publications.
“Beyond Shoe-Phones: Clothing Gets Smart” - Wall Street Journal
“On the horizon: Expanding the waistline of your pants with a push of a button.
Adjusting the color of a sweater from blue to green to match a favorite skirt.
Tracking a wandering child through a global-positioning system woven into his
jacket collar. Clothing a baby in sleepwear that sounds an alarm if breathing
stops.”
http://www.startupjournal.com/columnists/challengers/bodymedia/20010810-warren.html
"Smart fabrics that play music, sniff out chemicals, and send data about your
location and well-being are slowly weaving their way into daily life." - The
Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0829/p11s01-stgn.html
There are opportunities for small businesses to develop new products.
Small Business Opportunity: Smart Clothes - Darrell Zahorsky
Smart clothing conjures up images of space-age Jetson style apparel. However,
smart clothing is more about functionality than far-out space suits. Smarter
apparel encompasses the customization of clothing to special markets ranging
from performance apparel, sun protection, and aging-friendly clothing.
Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner, Kevin Plank, knows
performance apparel is the best ticket. Plank has grown his company, Under
Armour into a $100 million business. Under Armour is the originator of
performance apparel with a line of microfiber clothing that pulls perspiration
away from the skin to keep athletes cool and dry during physical activity.
John Barrow found business success in sun protection. Started in 2001, Coolibar
offers a unique range of sun protective clothing, sun hats, and sun protective
swimwear. The company website explains the benefits of this unique line of smart
clothing, "Sun protective clothing is an excellent sun protection tool as it
provides a physical block that doesn’t wash or wear off and can shade the skin
from both UVA and UVB rays. Coolibar’s clothing differs from standard attire by
blocking 97% or more of UV rays and providing an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF)
of 30 or greater." The company has even received The Skin Cancer Foundation’s
Seal of Recommendation.
Driving Force: A mature industry with most manufacturing moved overseas has left
the apparel business in need of creativity and innovation. Consumers are open to
ideas that meet their specialized needs.
Risks: The challenge of entering the smart clothing market is selecting a niche
that's not too mainstream allowing bigger competitors to swallow market share
before you get established. Conversely, a market too narrow can present problems
with attaining break-even points and profitability. Success in the smart
clothing industry will require the ability to outmaneuver large retailers who
influence the apparel business. Selling to select markets (i.e. skateboard
shops) and outsourcing the manufacturing process overseas can help to maintain
profit margins.
Financial Projections
Venture Development has made strong predictions, based on a Web survey
and individual interviews with 471 consumers, as well as industry executives.
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-956696.html
BCC research starts with lower starting sales, but estimates 36% growth in the segment by 2009.
http://www.bccresearch.com/plastics/GB309.html
Conclusion
Smart fabrics are in their infancy, and tremendous growth opportunities exist. Forecasts call for a 19-36% growth in the industry in the next few years, and as more applications are created and developed, this segment will grow even more rapidly.
Parkside Partners would be wise to invest in this technology in the health care segment, as it appears to have the most lucrative potential for commercial use and application.
To add to this collection of research, please contact jgill@medaille.edu .
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